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Updated: May 28, 2025
Bob West is a simple, kindly man, whom my father fully trusted. It was he that loaned me the money to get away from here with." "Tell me," said Uncle John, thoughtfully, "did your father receive stock in the Almaquo Timber Tract Company in exchange for his money?" "Oh, yes; I have seen it in the steel cupboard," replied Joe. "Where is that?"
"Neither Joe nor the Thompsons own a dollar's interest in the Almaquo property. It is all mine, and mine alone." "Then produce the stock and prove it!" retorted Mr. Merrick, triumphantly. At that moment Louise interrupted the interview by entering the room suddenly. "Oh, Uncle," said she, "will you join us in a picnic to the Falls tomorrow afternoon? We are all going."
The Almaquo tract was purchased, and a contract made with the lumber company to cut the timber and pay them a royalty of so much a thousand feet. Yet, although the prospects for profit seemed so good, I know that for some reason both my father and Thompson were dissatisfied with the deal, and this may be accounted for by the fact that every penny of their money was tied up in one investment.
Uncle John went at once to the cupboard and unlocked the doors. Joe himself pushed the slide and took out of the drawer the picture, which had lain just beneath the Almaquo stock certificates. The picture was passed reverently around. A sweet-faced, sad little woman it showed, with appealing eyes and lips that seemed to quiver even in the photograph.
He had discovered a chance to make a good deal of money by purchasing an extensive pine forest near Almaquo, just across the border in Canada. West had taken an option on the property, when he found by accident that the Pierce-Lane Lumber Company was anxious to get hold of the tract and cut the timber on a royalty that would enable the owners to double their investment."
"The Bogue tract," said Uncle John, slowly, "is worth far more than the Almaquo. Old Will Thompson was sane enough when insisting on that investment. But where is the stock, or deed, to show they bought that property?" "I do not know, sir. I only know they told me they had effected the purchase." "Pardon me," said the Major. "Have you not been through this cupboard before?"
Robert West, one of the Millville merchants, who is an old friend of our family." "I've heard of Mr. West, and I'm glad to meet him," replied Uncle John, looking at the other calmly, but not offering to shake hands. "I believe you are the president and treasurer of the Almaquo Timber Tract Company, are you not?" Joseph looked startled, and then embarrassed, as he overheard the question.
"That's true," sighed the little millionaire. "So it will be a royalty, Joe. We are paying the same percentage to Bob West for the Almaquo tract, but yours is so much better that I am sure your earnings will furnish you and Ethel with all the income you need."
"The contents of this cupboard," remarked the hardware merchant, calmly, "belong to the estate of Captain Wegg, and can scarcely be claimed by you because you have purchased the house. You falsely accused me the other day, sir, and I have been searching for proof that the Almaquo Timber Tract stock is entirely my property." "Have you found such proof?" inquired Mr. Merrick. "Not yet."
Wegg brought the matter to me, as usual, and I pointed out that my proposed contract with the Pierce-Lane Lumber Company would assure our making a handsome profit at Almaquo, while Thompson had no one in view to cut the other tract. Indeed, it was far away from any railroad. Wegg saw the force of my argument, and insisted that Thompson abandon his idea and accept my proposition.
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